Nice creamy tomato veggie sauce for pasta recipe, anyone?

[nicename]

I'm thinking that I want to recreate a lovely meal I had out. It was baked pasta in a really thick, gloopy veggie sauce with tomatoes and I think cream.

Has anyone got a foolproof recipe?

A really delicious, gloopy, pasta sauce can be made with just onions, celery, garlic, carrots, chopped tomatoes and a spoonful each of of sugar and olive oil in a stock - chicken or vegetable. Chop everything nice and small and stew everything together for a couple of hours.

Just before the end of cooking stir in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and then right before serving add in your "rich" ingredient. Something like a tablespoon (or two) of Boursin, mascarpone, a strong-flavoured cheese (such as Gruyere if you like that), or even cream.

Make sure not to add the dairy until just before serving though.

It's better to cook the pasta separately and then add the sauce because if you cook the pasta in the sauce, the pasta loses its texture.

a staggeringly easy and cheap but surprisingly rich sauce is the marcella hazan one:

onion, peeled and halved
tin of good quality whole or chopped tomatoes
2tbl sp butter

simmer in a pan for about 30-45 mins until really thick, lid off, stir occasionally

save the onion for another meal, the sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer.

at this stage you have many options like using it as a pizza sauce or as a base for a chilli but for the dish you want to re-create yes either stir in a dollop of soft cheese or a glug of cream, fold into cooked pasta with some melty cheese and some parmesan and bake. This is great with gnocchi instead of the pasta and a cheesy breadcrumb topping.

I make this sauce every few weeks as so handy to have in the fridge and cheaper and nicer than a jar of 'pasta sauce'.

Another option which I had made many a mid-week is: tin of tomatoes, half a cup of cream, leftover bits and bobs of cheese, basil or dried herbs, cooked pasta like tubes or spirals, black pepper. bake at 400 for 30 mins, foil on if it gets a bit too brown but I do like crunchy pasta bits and almost burnt cheese

super speedy one...fry one onion, season it, add favorite herbs and one cream (I use vegan)...reduce it...5 mins, mix it with fav pasta shapes and voila...enjoy :)